1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a laminating apparatus.
The present invention further relates to a laminating method.
2. Related Art
Various products are fabricated by sequential addition of components to previously supplied components. An important application area is in the manufacturing of electronic components as a stack of foils. Subsequent foils in the stack have electronic functional areas that in contact with each other perform an electronic function. A first foil forms a substrate foil whereon a next foil, the laminating foil, is laminated, e.g. by gluing. In the manufacture of said electronic components it is important that mutually subsequent foils are accurately positioned with respect to each other in order that corresponding electronic features in the subsequent foils accurately contact each other.
It is desirable that the manufacturing process can take place in a continuous production line so as to keep production costs at a moderate level. When manufacturing electronic components as a stack of foils, this would necessitate supplying the foils from separate rolls in a longitudinal direction and attaching them to each other. Various influences may cause a disalignment between the foils, such as variations in transport velocity, and stretching of the foils due to the force with which they are transported. The amount of stretching is difficult to predict, as it depends on various factors, such as the influence of the temperature of the environment on the foil, the variations in the elasticity of the foil, e.g. due to variations in the thickness of the foil. It is therefore necessary to align the foils with respect to each other before lamination.
WO-A-9806576 describes a laminating apparatus. Therein, during lamination and before solid bonding the foil strips undergo visual inspection, and tolerance differences with regard to the alignment of the various foil strips are compensated by pulling or pushing. However, pulling or pushing may cause damage to the foil strips, and the freedom of alignment is limited.